This book documents the United States Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) shift from a
rancher-dominated agency to an energy-dominated agency. This shift is analyzed by identifying
the conditions under which the expansion of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Rocky
Mountain West triggered a political conflict between ranching and energy stakeholder groups.
Through scrutiny of federal actions and policies implemented by the Executive Branch between
2004 and 2010 the book sheds light on the emphasis of domestic energy production during this
time period and how the traditional ranching and energy alliance was split by shifting policy
interests. The book is meant for policy makers natural resource agencies and students and
researchers engaged in political science public administration and natural resource
management. Chapter 1 introduces readers to the case study at hand and reviews literature on
public land agencies and policies. Chapter 2 summarizes thelegal history of public land
management by the federal government and the conditions that caused the BLM to favor energy
development over ranching in the mid-2000's. Chapter 3 details the role of the Executive Branch
(Bush-Cheney administration) in affecting the BLM's domestic energy policies and resource
allocation and chapter 4 analyzes the role of subgovernments in affecting the BLM's
motivations too. Chapters 5 6 and 7 contain first-hand accounts from government officials
state petroleum associations and ranching supported interest groups to explore the concept of
subgovernment stakeholder domination in policymaking and analyze the similarities and
differences between different policy-making elites. Chapter 8 concludes the text by summarizing
subgovernment theory mapping the behaviors of subgovernment actors and discussing the
implications for future political appointees in the direction of land-management agencies like
the BLM.
